“You have the name of being one of my bravest boys. Tell me how it happened. You never ran away, did you?�
“No, sir, never,� answered John with spirit. “I was playing with my dog Zip, on Sorrel Hill, when a big wagon, full of men, came along. They stopped when they saw me, and one of them called out, ‘Halloo, my little fifer! We are looking for you. Jump in.’ I asked them if the British bulls and lions were here, and they said ‘Yes, hurry up!’ I jumped in, sir, and that was the way it happened.�
Mr. Holden then remembered, for the first time, what he had said long ago, when John asked him if he would be needed when the British bulls and lions appeared.
John’s story was met by a burst of laughter quite unusual with Washington. Then patting the boy’s rosy cheeks, the General said, “After this you must give us some music, my lad.�
And John, quite elated, rendered a stirring march.
“I don’t see how we can part with this brave boy of yours,� said General Washington to Mr. Holden when the boy had finished playing; “but parents have the first claim.�
John was just then ordered to go and dismiss the men he had been drilling, and he departed with a martial salute to his superiors, and “I will be back in five minutes,� to his father.
Mr. Holden, left alone, told the story of the mother’s deep faith, and added, “John seems to be in his element here.�
Then General Washington told the gratified parent an incident, showing the spirit of the lad.
“When I, with a number of my suite, approached the vicinity of Monmouth Court House,� said he, “I was met by a little musician, who archly cried out, ‘They are all coming this way, your Honor!’�